England and Australia each made a big decision on Monday, just 16 days before
the Ashes. One I expected. The other came as a massive shock, but both were
the right calls.

Joe Root is ready to open the batting for England. He has coped with everything thrown at him.

England had real concerns about Nick Compton and the way he played against New Zealand.

He did not handle the pressure and is not one of the six best batsmen in England. It is as simple as that.

Joe has grown into a Test player. It is horrible when a player is dropped and it is always a risk moving someone up to open, but Joe has done it since he was a 10-year-old, and he has scored 800 runs for Yorkshire this season at the top of the order.

England have seen his infectious personality. Watch him in the huddle.

He gees up older, more experienced players and always has a backslap or word for the bowlers. He is a 30-year-old in a 22-year-old’s body with 12-year-old’s face.

The surprise was the sacking of Australia's coach Mickey Arthur.

I felt they would give him this summer to put things right but it is another good move.

For the first time in months I believe that Australia will pose England a threat now that Darren Lehmann is in charge.

There was a division in the camp. I wrote that last week.

Arthur could not control the players and they lost respect for him.

But the players will respect Lehmann. He is a larger-than-life character, straight talking and a good man-manager.

Do not be fooled by his history of liking a drink and a smoke. He is tough. He will tell people home truths.

I know because he is one of the three biggest influences on my career.

He encouraged me to be positive, to run hard between the wickets, to take on big shots to intimidate bowlers and to be an aggressive captain.

He taught me to enjoy playing the game and talking about it after play.

He will do all that with this young Australian team.

He knows he has not inherited the greatest group of Australian players but he knows if you are a strong group, with everyone buying into the culture, you can surprise teams. He does not have time to change techniques but he can change attitudes.

It is clear the Australians were not enjoying their cricket but he will make sure the environment is healthy.

He will tell players if they have a problem to bring it out in the open. The slate will start clean, but he will know that some of them have to change.

He will grab them one-on-one and tell them to improve.

Australia have been wasting mental energy on peripheral nonsense. He will break down barriers, clear up old issues and, if that is not possible, move people on.

Lehmann is shrewd and knows the kind of cricket required to be successful in England from his Yorkshire days.

Kevin Pietersen was the best player I played with for England but Lehmann was the best at county level.

He was a genius. OK, he was playing against county bowling, but he never denigrated the game.

He respected it and would listen to everyone, including the younger players.

He will encourage the lads to have a beer and discuss things. It will be old school.

I do not think he will be into ice baths but there will be plenty of ice for the cans. It is different from the modern way, but it is refreshing when you see coaches creating spirit and camaraderie.

He is Aussie through and through. He will give you a volley every now and then but bring humour to pressure situations.

That is what you need on a tour to England, one of the hardest in world cricket.

Lehmann will break the game down: win every session, ask his bowlers to build pressure with maidens and his batsman to realise when to attack and when to defend.

He will give players the a chance to make their own decisions.

In time, if they keep making the wrong decisions, he will get rid of them.

The best coaches in the world draw an extra 15 per cent out of you. A bad coach building a bad atmosphere can ruin you by 15 per cent.

Look at Shane Watson. He is a terrific cricketer and one I would want to build a team around.

But he is disillusioned and feels an outsider. That is down to atmosphere.

Lehmann will get him playing again. He will talk about the collective but tell each player his role.

From an England point of view I am starting to worry about Australia.

If they had not made this change, England would have steamrollered them.

I now think Australia have a chance, perhaps not in England this summer but in the return series.

By then, Lehmann will have had time. He is not a wizard and it will come down to Australians playing better cricket, but Lehmann will give them the platform to do just that.